Kate's 3rd Birthday!

I can't believe it, but my Kate turned 3 this past Sunday. She is growing into a "big girl" as we speak. She's doing well with her potty training and is sleeping in her big girl bed. She tells me all the time that she isn't a baby anymore. She loves to color with stickers, play with play doh, and do puzzles. She is a HUGE Mickey Mouse fan and she loves to listen to music. It melts my heart to hear her sing along!
For her birthday this year, we had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme. She had some friends over and we celebrated Meeska, Mouska style. It was a lot of fun!

This is Kate with her friend, Oliver, making their Mickey Mouse ears.

Oliver, Kate, and Lizzie

Working away on the ears!

Checking out the finished product in the mirror.

Friends, Eliza and Gabriella, making their ears.

Lizzie modeling her ears for us.

Playing pin the bow on Daisy. The blindfold was not a big hit with this crowd so we did it without. They did exceptionally well since they could see where to put the bow!

This was our lunch! PB and J, Mickey style.

The Birthday Cupcakes!

The goody bags...

Making our Mousekeseekers...
Friends, Gabriella and Grace

Gabriella

Lizzie with her Mousekeseeker.

The kids had a great time. I'm so happy that Kate has been able to make such good friends here in Connecticut.

Josh and Jake Turn 10!

Josh and Jake just turned 10! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone by. They are both growing up so fast and turning into responsible, loving young men. I feel very blessed to be their mother!
For their birthday party this year, they decided to have a Movie Night. We watched the movie How to Train Your Dragon and had lots of treats. The boys had such a good time!

The concession stand complete with movie candy, popcorn, and soda.

Jake with his birthday dessert of choice: DONUTS!

Josh chose LEMON CAKE!

Everyone took home a goody bag.

The boys invited a few friends from their school class.
Here they all are getting filled up with sugar.

Halloween in December

Okay. So, I'll be the first to admit I've been slacking big time in my blogging duties! Here it is December 7th and I'm just barely posting my Halloween pictures! WOW! Well, I guess it's better late than never. I took so many pictures that I wanted to share so you can just think of this as a little Halloween cheer in December.

Here are the kids all dressed up. Josh is an executioner, Kate is a bumblebee, and Jake is a wizard. They all looked fabulous in their costumes!

Jake looking rather wizardly.

You can't hardly tell this is Josh, but I promise it is.

And my sweet little bee, Kate.

Kate and I ready for her preschool party.

Now that we're all dressed up, let the fun begin! We started the Saturday off with a nice party held by Burlington City. Despite the chilly weather, there were all sorts of fun things for the kids to do.

Face painting...

Marshmallow bobbing...

Crafting...

Bouncy sliding...

Friend playing...
(This is Josh and Jake's good friend, Colt.)

Costume parading...

City truck touring...

The party was a total blast. One that we will do again, I'm sure. After we went to the city party, we went to our ward party that night. There were more fun things to do! One of my favorites was seeing my handsome husband dressed up in his stylish costume. I'm sure you will agree with me on how great he looks!!!

Robb, the 70's guy!

For Halloween night, I decided to have a "spooky" dinner. So, we had "scary" things to eat.

This is our "slice 'o pumpkin."

Baked monster eyes....YUM!

Chopped witches fingers

We had a great weekend of Halloween fun!

Feeling Festive

I don't know what it is about holidays but when they come around I always seem to want to make something new or try a new recipe. I love it! Well, I was on Facebook and saw a link on one of my friend's profiles showing instructions on how to make this really, really cute Halloween centerpiece. I looked at it and naturally thought, "I can make that." Now, keep in mind I'm not the most crafty person. Sometimes I wonder why I think I can make things or bake something just by following the instructions. Believe me, I've had my fair share of bloopers! Well, this turned out to be a different experience. I made the centerpiece and am now quite proud of it.

As I was walking through Michaels shopping for materials I was quite excited. There were so many Halloween things to pick from and I had to really debate with myself on what I wanted to get. I felt like I could spend hours there AND spend lots of money. It reminded me of how my husband is when he goes to Home Depot, Lowes, or any other home improvement store. This made me smile.

Well, I shared my new found love of Michaels with my mom, who is an avid crafter (and quite good at it, I might add). Through the phone line, I could hear the giddiness in her voice and she actually said to me, "You don't know how happy this makes me." I still laugh when I think about it. I forsee many more trips to Michaels in the future and definitely some with my mom.

Here is my creation:

Isn't it cute? Try it. YOU can make it!

A close up look

Where I saw the idea:
http://www.oneshetwoshe.com/2010/10/halloween-paper-centerpiece-tutorial.html

The cost:

Basket for base: $2.99
Flower foam: $2.27
Plant stakes (I used in place of skewers): $2.99
Spanish moss: $2.99
3 pieces of 12x12 paper on sale for $0.41 each: $1.33
Embellishments: $2.39

TOTAL: $14.96

I have supplies left over. I didn't even use half of the plant stakes, spanish moss, or embellishments. Looks like I will be starting my own supply of crafting supplies.

Moving!

About 2 and 1/2 weeks ago we moved into our new house. When we first came to Connecticut we stayed in an apartment until we found a house that we wanted to buy. Although lots of our stuff was put into storage, we still had lots of stuff at the apartment. Here are some pictures of all the boxes...

BOXES...

...AND MORE BOXES!

Luckily, some nice people in our ward came and helped us move all of our stuff. We were able to get everything moved over to the house within less than 4 hours! I don't know what we would have done without all the help!

Now, we are so happy to be in our house. We have tons of space both inside the house and out! We are still unpacking boxes and finding places for things to go, but I love the house! Here are some pictures of it...

The is the front of the house. The line of shrubs in the right side of the picture shows where the driveway is. It's a long driveway that the kids love riding their bikes and scooters down.

Here is a side view of the front of the house.
The front yard is big and covered in trees.
It makes for a very private setting.

This is the back of the house.

The deck...

The fenced portion of the backyard. It's lined with trees. We see tons of squirrels and birds in our yard all the time. We've even seen a groundhog!

So far, we love being in our new house. More pictures to come once I have boxes unpacked!

The Big E

Last month we got to go to The Big E. Now, I've been to fairs before, but this is by far the biggest one I have ever been to. It's a fair to celebrate the New England states and it's held once a year and lasts for 2 weeks. This fair has all the things you would expect to see at a fair...and then some. We ate greasy food, saw animals, rode rides, and walked and walked. It was a blast. We took so many pictures that you might get a taste of what it was like to be there.

Here are Jake and Josh with their lunch of choice. The mega corn dog. If you're wondering, Jake actually ate all of his and Josh ate all but a few bites!

These next few pictures take place at the petting zoo portion of the fair. This was one of Kate's favorite spots as she loves the animals.

Kate petting her new friends, the goats.

This goat really liked the woman behind Kate. She had food!

Kate and Robb with one of the llamas.

Here is a picture of everyone (but me, since I was the photographer) and the llama they wanted to bring home. We'll just call him Spits.

Josh getting in on the feeding action.

Here is a picture of a baby donkey taking it's afternoon nap. We all should do this!

Now, you'll see what some of the rides were like. This part of the fair was Josh and Jake's favorite part! We spent more time on the Midway then at any other part of the fair.

Getting ready to SWING.

Going into the deep, dark, tunnel of the Mouse Trap.

Getting ready to go up....

...higher...

...and higher still!

Yes, my boys are actually on what looked like to me, the spinning death trap of doom.
(No, I didn't go on this ride.)

More spinning. I sat out.

The swinging ship

Getting ready to blast off...like superman!

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No! It's Josh and Jake.
(Side note: Look at the gorgeous sky! It was a great day!)

Here we are on a submarine ride that goes in the air. You can see Kate's head peeking over the seat. Look closely. She's there.

Watching a parade...

Here are some horses in the parade. They were enormous and beautiful!

Despite the crowds, we had a wonderful time. We saw some fun things and enjoyed the beautiful weather! I think I might actually go again.